Post by StoryGirl83 on May 28, 2009 23:42:32 GMT -5
Chapter One – The Day Begins
Brian Heitzman was filling a mug of steaming hot liquid with brown powder when Chris walked into the break room and over to the chairs. Brian looked over at him as Chris sat down. Looking down at the hot chocolate in his hands, he set the mug down. He picked up another mug and filled it with hot water from the coffee pot. He added another pack of hot chocolate and brought both mugs over to where Chris was sitting. “Hey, I hear today’s your last day.”
Chris looked up as Brian held out a mug. He accepted the mug with a smile and nodded. He took a spoon dangling from Brian’s pinky and began stirring in the chocolate mix. “Thanks.”
“Having second thoughts?” Brian asked as he sat down next to him.
Chris shook his head. “Third, fourth, fifth, but no, not second. Besides it’s not fair to David.”
Brian laughed. “Yeah, been there. It wasn’t a job though. I had this girlfriend, Ally. Can’t say leaving her was my first choice, but it wasn’t fair to her to stay. I quit my job and came here because I couldn’t stay there where she was and not want her back.”
Chris frowned thoughtfully, something about the story sounding very familiar. “But why break up with her?”
“She had an old boyfriend,” Brian explained, “one she thought dead. He turned up alive. At first I believed her, but after a few months it became clear that she wasn’t over him and that she cared more for him than me.” He shrugged. “I didn’t want to leave her. You, though, you want to leave.”
Chris chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose I do.”
Brian laughs, again. “Then, chin up and quit pouting. Do you have a new job yet?
Chris chuckled a bit more. “I’m going to work at my mom’s restaurant.”
Brian stared at him in disbelief. “You’re going to work for your mother?”
“Yes.” When Brian continued to look at him stunned he asked, “What? I like to cook.”
Brian just shook his head.
Chris stood and put the now empty mug on the coffee stand. “Thanks again for the drink.”
Brian grinned as Chris left.
At the San Francisco Museum of Natural History, Chris’ older brother Wyatt was on the phone with a woman whose son he had interviewed the day before. “That is a unique way of looking at it, Mrs. Simes. But that does not make your son the right person for this job. If he would like to call me himself in order to discuss this matter.” He paused long enough to hear her response before he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Simes, but that is all I can promise, to listen if he calls. Good day.” He waited a moment and then hung up.
He picked up some papers off his desk and began looking through them. With the last six applicants being a complete failure, he had his work cut out for him.
Suddenly he looked up and frowned. He looked around, suspicious. “Great. The last time I got this feeling I was being watched by demon spies.”
He sighed and turned back to his desk and the applications on it. He tapped his pen against the desk, frowning before he dropped it and picked up the phone. He dialed and waited with the phone to his ear. When he got send straight to voice mail he sighed. “Hi, Dad. You know I don’t like it when you have voice mail on. Anyway, I felt something . . . creepy. You said I need to listen to these instincts, so I’m going to try and get work done early, but call me if something happens. I have this idea that it will. Talk to you later.”
He hung up the phone and looked back at the applications. A grim look on his face, he started reviewing them once more, hoping to see something he missed the first time.